Gay marriage not on front burner in Wisconsin

Lawmakers say the issue was addressed in 2006 statewide referendum

May 17, 2013

An estimated 6,000 people gathered at the State Capitol where Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton signed the gay marriage bill on Tuesday in St. Paul, Minn. Minnesota became the 12th state to legalize gay marriage. / AP Photo/Jim Mone

States that have legalized gay marriage

MADISON — As thousands of gay rights supporters in Minnesota celebrated this week, it was business as usual in Wisconsin.

When Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton signed a gay marriage bill into law on Tuesday — making it the 12th state in the country to do so — Wisconsin lawmakers tackled far different issues, including a resolution recognizing “Pediatric Stroke Awareness Day.”

Gay marriage is not on the legislative agenda in Wisconsin, and that’s not expected to change in the near future.

“I just don’t think it’s very likely in this state anytime soon,” said Joe Heim, a University of Wisconsin-La Crosse political scientist. “It’s pretty clear that public opinion in the United States is leaning toward gay marriage (but) I just don’t see Wisconsin joining that (group) anytime soon.”

The amendment states: “Only a marriage between one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state. A legal status identical or substantially similar to that of marriage for unmarried individuals shall not be valid or recognized in this state.”

Nearly 60 percent of Wisconsin voters supported the measure. The amendment passed in 71 of 72 counties, with only Dane County voters opposing it.

Before lawmakers could consider a bill to allow gay marriage in Wisconsin, voters would have to pass an amendment undoing the language in the 2006 measure. And that would have to be preceded by passage of the amendment in both houses of the Legislature in two consecutive sessions.

The politics of the situation

The mechanics of the political process would take years, but there are more immediate obstacles to gay marriage than constitutional procedures.

Republicans have firm control of state government in Wisconsin and, as a party, they oppose gay marriage.

The Republican Party’s 2012 national platform included “preserving and protecting traditional marriage” and it stated that “the union of one man and one woman must be upheld as the national standard, a goal to stand for, encourage, and promote through laws governing marriage.”

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Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Burlington, suggested this week that his party is not shifting on the issue.

“The Wisconsin constitution states that marriage is between one man and one woman,” Vos said in a statement to Gannett Wisconsin Media. “Two consecutive legislatures passed this resolution and the people of Wisconsin voted to amend the constitution to provide the definition of marriage in 2006.

“Wisconsin also has a statewide domestic partnership registry. I think that we’ve found an appropriate balance on this issue.”

Republicans are likely to retain its power in Wisconsin for some time.

After Republicans took control of state government in the 2010 elections, they controlled the redistricting process, and re-drew legislative boundaries to give them an advantage in future elections. Heim said that if the districts had been instead redrawn to make each district competitive, Democrats would be in charge today.

Heim thinks Wisconsin and Minnesota have historically similar progressive pasts, but that has changed.

“But they started going one direction, we started going another,” Heim said. “Politics here have become much more extreme left and right. The result of that is, the probability of us following Minnesota on this is pretty low.”

“It’s obvious that this is a civil rights question of our time and I think even those Republicans who were pushing to define marriage in a very divisive way are questioning that now,” he said. “That push will come back to haunt them, as the state and the rest of the country moves forward on this topic.”

The courts angle

The possibility that a court ruling will bring gay marriage to Wisconsin appears unlikely in the near future.

Andrew Coan, an assistant professor of law at the University of Wisconsin Law School, said there are two cases related to gay marriage before the U.S. Supreme Court. One is a challenge to the federal Defense of Marriage Act, which relates to federal marriage benefits to same sex couples who live in states where their marriage is recognized.

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The other case is a challenge to California’s Proposition 8 initiative, a ballot measure restricting marriage to unions between a man and a woman.

Coan said the latter case is more likely to have an impact on Wisconsin, but the court could rule on narrow grounds, which would prevent the decision from being relevant in states like Wisconsin.

Public sentiment

Polling indicates public sentiment has shifted in Wisconsin since 2006, although a majority of state residents don’t support legalizing gay marriage.

While 59 percent of voters backed the gay marriage ban in the 2006 referendum, a Public Polling Policy survey in February revealed that 46 percent of people in Wisconsin opposed gay marriage, while 44 percent supported legalizing it.

Heim said in a high turnout election, such as a presidential race, a vote to overturn the ban could pass.

But Heim said that given the Republican’s redistricting advantage, they don’t have to really pay that much attention to public will on the issue. And, he said Republicans would be unlikely to cross their party on the issue because they could face a primary challenger.

“It could generate opposition in your own party,” he said.

The advocates weigh in

Advocates on both sides of the controversial issue say Wisconsin won’t address gay marriage in the near term.

“We have an amendment in place,” said Julaine Appling, president of Wisconsin Family Action, a group that opposes same-sex marriage. “Until and unless that amendment is removed ... then it holds. That’s the reason we have the amendment — so we don’t have what happened (in Minnesota).”

Katie Belanger, executive director of Fair Wisconsin, which fought the gay marriage ban, said the action in Minnesota and elsewhere indicates the country is moving forward on marriage equality. She said state lawmakers have made progress, including the 2009 passage of a domestic partnership registry, which provides legal protection for same-sex couples.

“We’re certainly moving forward,” she said. “We have a longer road ahead of us than Minnesota.”